§ 31-50-1. Office of automobile theft and insurance fraud — Powers and duties of investigators.
(a) There is established an office of automobile theft and insurance fraud.
(b) The scope and purpose of the office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall
be to investigate and prosecute crimes involving the theft or other unauthorized use
of motor vehicles and to investigate and prosecute all forms of automobile insurance-related
fraud.
(c) The office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall consist of a director, and
not less than five (5) nor more than eight (8) investigators, who shall be selected
and who shall be specially-trained to investigate instances of automobile theft and
automobile claim insurance fraud. The director shall be a member of the Rhode Island
state police with at least the rank of sergeant, and shall remain on the personnel
rolls of the Rhode Island state police, with the same salary and benefits schedule,
and shall retain all powers of a member of the Rhode Island state police of that rank.
(d) The office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall be under the jurisdiction
of the superintendent of the state police. He or she shall appoint the director of
that office from amongst the members of state police who have attained the rank of
sergeant or above. The director, with the approval of the superintendent, shall have
the authority to appoint and to remove, if necessary, the investigators and staff
of the office.
(e) The director and the investigators shall have the following powers:
(1) To arrest independently or in conjunction with local, state or federal law enforcement
agencies.
(2) To apply for and execute search warrants;
(3) To serve civil and criminal process.
(f) No person shall be appointed as an investigator in the office unless he or she has
successfully completed the basic course of instruction for police officers at the
Providence Police Training Academy, the Rhode Island Municipal Police Training Academy,
or the Rhode Island State Police Training Academy, and has at least three (3) years
of active law enforcement experience, or has served as a member of the United States
Marshal's Service or as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a
criminal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice, the United
States Department of State, the United States Department of the Treasury or the United
States Postal Inspection Service and has at least three (3) years of active law enforcement
experience, or has been certified as a police officer by the duly-constituted state
commission on police officer standards and training of another state, and has at least
three (3) years of active law enforcement experience. Prior to the appointment of
any individuals, a background examination shall be conducted utilizing federal, state
and local law enforcement agencies, bureau of criminal identification, national crime
information center, and any and all relevant records existing within the federal and
state court systems.
(g) The attorney general shall designate one assistant or special assistant attorney general
to the office whose duties shall be exclusively devoted to the office of automobile
theft and insurance fraud. That assistant shall be funded from the account established
in § 31-50-4.
(h) The state shall hold the director and each investigator harmless and indemnify them
to the extent provided under § 9-31-12 for acts committed within the scope of their employment.